Do you find yourself staring at your computer keyboard wondering how you’re going to make the marketing goals you set at the beginning of the quarter?
Do you see a handful of customers straggling into the dealership from time to time throughout the day, but you don’t see the steady stream of customers and sales you would like?
Does it appear that the dealer next door looks busier than you?
You’re not alone. Many car dealerships struggle when it comes to drawing in a steady stream of customers. With car shoppers spending more time researching vehicles on the Internet, it takes more effort and time until they pull into a dealership lot.
Today, vehicle shoppers compare prices online, view crash reports, and read reviews on social media. You’re selling to well-informed consumers. They’re educated, smarter and more thorough than ever before.
As a result, it’s not always easy to get leads on the turn of a dime. That’s unless you know what marketing and advertising strategies work. Dealers need to be innovative and have a fresh toolbox of smart ideas in their pockets.
If your dealership isn’t generating the revenue you’d like, here are four sale promotions ideas that work for any occasion.
4 Car Sale Promotions Ideas That Work
In 2018, the methods of advertising vehicles have changed. There’s a shift from the old way of advertising to generate leads and sales to a new personal way framed by our digital age.
Car dealerships need to look beyond using only traditional car advertising campaign outlets such as television and radio and expand their reach.
This must be done because today’s economy is filled with consumers that value personalized communication and original advertising methods. This is the way car dealerships can build stronger brand identities.
Here are some great car sales marketing ideas.
1. Social Advertising
Social media is a huge trend in car marketing. It takes target marketing way beyond posting attractive vehicle photos on your company website or placing shiny cars with neon colored sale price tags along the front row of the dealership lot.
Social media advertising allows dealers to target consumers in a unique way that wasn’t available in the past. It enables customers to participate, ask questions and be part of the conversation.
Facebook advertising, as well as other social platforms, offer opportunities to target the customers you want to turn into leads.
For example, Facebook allows you to define and reach your customer demographics, track visitors and communicate with potential customers online. It also lets you post videos, images, and messages that members can share with their friends and families. Check out WaterWerkz’s social media strategy to see what a local business does to effectively market through social media.
2. Community Engagement
The second car sale promotions idea is engaging with the local community in the town where you have your business. Community engagement marketing initiatives provide the chance for your company to interact with the local folks.
One way you can draw local business is by partnering up with other local businesses that also target your demographic.
Reach out to a coffee shop, pizza place or clothing store.
Try supporting a local charity like a nearby children’s hospital or advertise at town parades and festivals.
Your community provides endless opportunities to generate awareness of your dealership’s brand. And you’ll also take part in doing something good for your community. This lets people know you care about your community.
Get Creative
How do you start? Sit down with your marketing team and brainstorm ideas on how you can engage with your community, support your town and reach your marketing and advertising goals.
Hold a weekly singing contest similar to America’s Got Talent or The Voice. Have the community choose the winners like The Voice’s phone in a vote. Make employees from the dealership the judges and design a point system.
For another idea, hold a video contest. You can post the entrants’ videos on your Facebook and Instagram pages.
Have members vote for their favorite videos. Directing the community to your social media pages also offers a great way for families to learn about your dealership’s sales and events.
3. Customer Testimonials
Testimonials can be one of the most effective advertising methods. They provide one of the best ways to get customers into your showroom.
That’s because consumers place a lot of value on reading reviews. Whether they’re looking for a restaurant, a dentist or a car dealership.
They trust testimonials and reviews since they come from other customers. They don’t appear like a sales message, although in actuality they boost sales.
Reviews Boost Search Engine Results
And reviews also matter to search engines. Here’s a thought: ask your satisfied customers to write a customer review on Google. Your business will rank better on Google and generate better organic search results.
Why not make a video of happy customers? You can put the video on your website and post it on your social media pages.
When you post it to YouTube, to improve search results, make sure to create text tags and a description with good keywords for your videos. Search engines don’t recognize images, but they do recognize video captions.
4. Host an Event at Your Car Dealership
Hosting an event at your dealership can be the key to driving future sales. It attracts car shoppers, increases vehicle sales, builds customer loyalty and improves your company’s brand visibility.
Do a direct mail marketing campaign to invite potential customers to your dealership event. Make sure to serve food and refreshments and have some giveaways.
Even if customers don’t buy a car on-site at the event, you’ve made yourself some great leads for future sales. Make sure to ask customers to sign a guest book that requests their contact information.
Make your event unlike any other. To up the fun and participation, hold a raffle with prizes. Have a contest with plenty of prizes.
The Bottom Line on Car Sale Promotions Ideas
Now you know four proven sale promotions ideas. They can help build relationships, expand your customer reach and increase your bottom line.
Looking for more tips on how to increase your car dealership’s profits? Explore our website and read actionable articles on our blog.
